Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra - the average phablet, which is too expensive

Senior device in the family of XA1 2017 from Sony belongs to the class of phablets. Model Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra came out simultaneously with the younger brothers and almost no difference. They touched only the size of the display, camera, battery. The entire model range belongs to the middle segment, and while the company does not plan to produce a large smartphone in an expensive class. That is why for fans of large devices and Sony equipment is the only option to meet all requests. Details about the model in the review Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra.

Specifications

When a brand launches three modifications of the same model, the question certainly arises - how do they differ, apart from the price. Most often it is a diagonal, a camera and a filling. In the case of the XA1 ruler, this did not happen. More precisely, all devices differ in size, but the filling is almost the same.Features Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra look a bit strange against the background of previous models. If differences with the younger device are visible, then the average device on the battery has the best indicator, equipped with a finger scanner, but inferior in the camera.

By and large, the company in the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra Dual smartphone seriously changed only the display size and the front camera. It is on these parameters that emphasis was placed on the presentation, and the model does not have any other serious differences.

Important! The phone is sold in two versions: support for one or two SIM cards.

Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra

Design

Sony has always differed from competitors in design. While everyone makes smartphones with roundness, the Japanese adhere to their tradition - sharp corners and ring shape. The metal frame smoothly flows from end to end, as well as to the front and rear panels.The front side is protected by a 2.5D glass Gorilla Glas 4, but the beveled edges are so small that they are almost invisible. Like many brands, sony in 2017 made their "Frameless" smartphone. But the device can be called such a big stretch. The frame on the sides of the display is really almost absent, but above and below it is. At the same time, the bottom panel remained empty, the control buttons were touch sensitive on the screen. The upper part contains the notification sensor, sensor, speaker, camera and flash. The latter was not the younger devices.

The rest of the appearance of the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra is one-on-one similar to the other representatives of the line. On the right side is the power button, volume control and camera. The power button of the device again became round and lost the fingerprint scanner.

On a note! The strangeness is that of all three devices, only the middle one received a fingerprint scanner. The older and younger versions are deprived of such protection.

On the left side there is a slot for SIM cards and a separate slot for a memory card. At the top end is a microphone and a headphone jack. On the lower Type-C and speaker. On the back of the camera, flash and NFC module.

Due to the diagonal, the phone turned out to be very large and quite thick. To many users, it may seem inconvenient to work with the device. This is true, but only when it comes to working with one hand. The position is not slippery. In addition, in the settings there the mode of displacement of all elements in one of the parties To adapt the device in one hand. For the sake of justice, it is necessary to emphasize that only those people who have moved 6 inches after small devices will find the phone uncomfortable. The permanent owners of phablets will not feel any problems. Ergonomic phone is very nice.

Colors similar to the younger model: white, black, pink and gold. As before, the whole body is painted in one color, and the theme is made in the appropriate style.

Screen

With the growth of the diagonal resolution has not changed. We are talking about the device XA1 Plus, there are completely similar screen options. But the display of the phone was very high quality:

• bright colours;
• high-quality anti-glare and oleophobic layer;
• wide viewing angles without color distortion;
• Good job automatic backlight settings.

The model is suitable for those who like to watch movies on the smartphone, play, surf the Internet, read. XA1 Ultra will perform well as an alternative to the tablet. Due to the fact that the colors are not inverted at the corners, you can watch movies with friends, and everyone will see the same thing on the screen. Matrix perfectly conveys black color, does not distort white. No complaints about the picture. All three devices The screen is made on a solid top five.

Working moments

Due to the fact that Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra Dual runs on the same chipset as the average device, namely Helio P20, and with the same memory, there are no differences in operation. This is not a top, but rather fast and productive machine.

On a note! An interesting fact is that the Plus version had problems with scrolling, more precisely, the picture slowed down a bit. The older device has no such problem. Everything works quickly and beautifully.

The phone will give the opportunity play and work in several applications at once. About 23 out of 32 GB are available for storage. If desired, you can insert a flash drive with a capacity of 256 gigabytes. If it is formatted in the phone, then it will be possible to install some applications on this carrier.

The autonomy of the phone caused great interest among those who were waiting for the device. The reason is that the battery for such a large device is very small. 2700 mAh for six inches with a “gluttonous” MediaTek is too small.Moreover, questions arise when the average model with 5.5 inches has 600 mAh more battery. No one expected the phone to show fantastic results, and it was justified. The device is enough for a normal working day, and nothing more. The figures are slightly higher than the youngest device in the series, but far from those that can be seen in modern technology. Of the benefits - adaptive chargingwhich extends battery life, and fast charging. Also in the phone there power saving modewhich will allow the device to work a little longer, but will disable some of its features.

On wireless interfaces, the phone is good: two SIM cards, both can work on LTE networks simultaneously. Fast Wi-Fi with two bands, full NFC and Bluetooth. I am glad to have the opportunity to expand the memory simultaneously using the second SIM card. In modern phones it is quite rare.

Camera

The fans of phablets hardly pay attention to the camera settings, but in the case of the XA1 Ultra, the company decided to add some highlights. Apparently, to be safe, because not every buyer wants to overpay just for a large display.An interesting point is that the changes affected the front camera, while the main one remained exactly the same. Its resolution is 23 megapixels, there is a proprietary electronic stabilization, autofocus, wide angle image capture. The camera shoots on a solid four. A little soap and poor detail observed at night.There are no questions to shoot in the afternoon.

The front camera already in version Plus got autofocus, and in Ultra the creators went further. They added not only pixels here, now there are 16 of them, but they have equipped the matrix with an optical stabilizer and their own flash. As a result, the front camera shoots an order of magnitude better than the main one. The camera has no problems with photos either at night or day. Selfies are pleasant, you can immediately remove a group of people at the expense of wide capture images.

Shooting video is also in FHD with thirty frames per second. In the XA1 series, the company stubbornly does not want to shoot videos in 4K and add a sensational Slow-mo mode. In general, the videos are not bad, but the film will not work on camera. Focusing does not always work as needed.

Conclusion

The price of the phone at the start of sales was 27 thousand rubles.Numerous reviews claim that there is no significant difference between the senior and middle devices, and a reasonable question arises - why buy it. This model was created for those who love fablets, but, according to many, device is not worth the money. It has a slightly better camera, and the device itself works quickly, but the autonomy is weak, which means there is not much point in overpaying. In addition, competitors have a good alternative with approximately the same price, but sometimes more interesting parameters. And if the large diagonal does not cause much interest, then it is logical to buy the XA1 Plus, since it is all the same, only the gadget works longer from the battery.

Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra